Messiah University Honors Program

08/19/2026

The Honors Program is excited to welcome faculty and students back for the Fall 2026 semester! This year’s theme, Justice/ What Is Justice, invites our community to explore complex questions about fairness, responsibility, and the common good. Throughout the semester, we have planned a variety of events designed to deepen students’ thinking while fostering community and faith.

Highlights include Three Views on the Constitution, Pastor Joshua Richardson’s presentation on educational justice, Vic Sensenig’s lecture on The Inferno, an artist talk for Wesley T. Brown’s exhibit 'Impacted", a panel discussion on justice for children, a day trip to Washington, D.C., along with additional opportunities for engagement and reflection.

We look forward to a meaningful semester of learning, conversation, and connection.

Follow this page and find us on LinkedIn and Instagram for more information and updates on all our program has to offer this year!

08/05/2026

Our Honors students are often involved in a wide range of activities beyond their academic coursework, and the summer months provide an excellent opportunity to develop and apply those additional skills.

Honors English student Rachel Sechrist is spending her summer interning with Salt ’n Light Youth Ministry, an organization based in Camp Hill whose mission is “youth reaching youth with the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Through this internship, Rachel is actively engaged in a variety of roles, including drama storytelling, dance, worship leadership through piano and vocals, social media management, and sharing messages at events.

This experience offers a meaningful opportunity for Rachel to use her gifts in service to others and to further God’s kingdom.

07/22/2026

One of the benefits of our Honors Program is the opportunity to bring together multiple different disciplines. Alumnus Luke Groothoff, ‘22, took advantage of this opportunity with his individualized major in Biomedical Art and Design! Luke is now a Scientific Animator at Elucida Communications.

About how experiences in the Honors Program has helped him in his current career, Luke says, “As a scientific animator, applying critical thinking across multiple disciplines is an essential part of my work. The Honors Program at Messiah helped prepare me for this by promoting a holistic approach to education, encouraging interdisciplinary exploration, and maintaining an exceptionally high standard in every Honors course. Opportunities like the Senior Honors Project and Honors Ethics course have left a lasting impression on how I think, work, and learn to this day.”

We are excited about the amazing work Luke is doing and the ways that the Honors Program helped to prepare him for this work.

Thank you for the update Luke, and we look forward to seeing how you continue to use your gifts!

07/08/2026

Many of our Honors students have taken advantage of the opportunity to study at Oxford University! Emma Easter is using her summer break to participate in Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford's study abroad program!

About this experience, Emma says, “This program will give me the opportunity to live in community with students from various other Christian universities across America while getting to learn from distinguished professors and study amongst the ancient and historic spires of Oxford. I am so excited for the enriching experience that participation in this program promises to provide!”

This is such a great opportunity for Emma to apply the skills and knowledge she has gained in the Honors Program during the academic year in new settings and with new people. We are confident that this experience will grow her faith and intellect, and we cannot wait to hear more about it in the fall!

06/24/2026

Many of our Honors students use their break from classes during the summer to share their love for the Lord with others.

Aaron Miedel, an Honors Chemistry student, will be working at Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp in Colorado Springs!

Aaron says that for him, this is “a great opportunity to engage with Creation and facilitate children’s ministry!"

May the Lord bless your endeavors there, Aaron!

06/10/2026

At the Honors Program, we seek to offer students opportunities to grow in both hard and soft skills. Recently, we caught up with alumna Abigail Ruth, ‘20, who shared with us how experiences in the Honors Leadership Counsel prepared her for her current work. Abigail studied International Business and French during her time at Messiah, and she is now the Program Coordinator for Ugandan Water Project!

Abigail says, “Being a founding member of the Honors Leadership Council helped give me the confidence to speak up in situations where I wouldn't have before, and the Honors Program classes helped me learn to question the status quo rather than accepting it. I would not be able to walk into conferences or meetings with the confidence I do if it hadn't been in part for the Honors Program and everything it includes.”

Thank you Abigail, for your important work and for sharing with us the ways the Honors Program has helped you develop in intellect as well as confidence!

06/08/2026

Messiah Honors alumna Olivia Reardon is featured on the latest episode of "Composed"

Many parents want their children to receive an education that does more than prepare them for the next test. They want an education that helps them become thoughtful, faithful, wise human beings.

In this episode of Composed, Christine Perrin talks with Olivia Reardon about what it means to grow up classical and how literature can shape a young person’s moral imagination.

Together, they explore how stories help students ask better questions, see themselves more truthfully, encounter others more generously, and return to the same books with deeper wisdom as they grow.

For families wondering why the great books still matter, this is a warm and thoughtful conversation about reading, formation, beauty, and the kind of education that attends to the whole person.

Listen to Episode 11: “Growing Up Classical: Literature, Wisdom, and the Questions We Carry,” with Olivia Reardon.

05/26/2026

For our Honors students, the summertime is an opportunity to further their studies at Messiah University in unique places!

This summer, Honors Engineering student Eliza Crawford is travelling to Peru with her Collaboratory team to do work with the WindAid Institute.

You can read more about the Peru WindAid Site Trip at https://messiahcollaboratory.wordpress.com/peru-windaid-site-trip/

This is such a great opportunity for Eliza to apply her engineering skills to serve other communities!

Keep up the great work, Eliza, and we cannot wait to hear how it went in the fall!

05/12/2026

A huge congratulations to our graduating seniors! Our Medallion Ceremony was a beautiful time of celebrating and reflecting on all our students have accomplished and God’s faithfulness to them throughout their years here at Messiah and in the Honors Program.

A special thanks to Dr. Christine Gardner and Dr. David Weaver-Zercher for participating in the ceremony, honors seniors Lu-Zheng Lau and Olivia Reardon for their impactful reflections on their time in the program, and honors seniors Anna Clement, Eliana McFate, and Anne McIlvaine for lending their musical gifts to the ceremony.

We are grateful for the contributions each of these Honors students have made to our community, and we will be praying for them as they head into the next chapter of their lives!

05/11/2026

It was such a delight to chat with Christine Perrin, host of the Humanitas podcast "Composed." I hope you enjoy our conversation.

A new episode of Composed is out today.

Christine Perrin is joined by James LaGrand, American historian and Director of the Honors Program and Professor of American History at Messiah University, for a conversation about building a culture of intellectual friendship.

Together they explore the habits that form students and teachers into a genuine community of learning: shared meals, seminars, walks, tea, concerts, trips to Gettysburg, and the reading of great texts aloud. Their conversation moves through music, memory, Augustine, Dante, Frederick Douglass, Lincoln, Tyehimba Jess, and the quiet image of a grandmother’s Sabbath table.

It is a rich reflection on education not merely as competence or achievement, but as the patient formation of persons who can receive beauty, honor the past, and seek the good together.

Listen to the new episode here: https://champ.ly/5KQMglvH

What habits help form a true community of learning?